Lubricating attachment for gate-valves.



Nu. 64!,754. Patented Jan. 23. 1900;

w. n. ADDICKS.

LUBBICATING ATTACHMENT FOR GATE VALVES.

(Application filed may 13, 1899.)

(No Model.)

E V 2 WI NESSEE: I INVENTEIR 0 'gwwm NIED TATES WALTER R. ADDIGKS, OFBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

LUBRICATING ATTACHMENT FOR GATE-VALVES.

"srEcIFIcATIoN forming part of Letters Patent No. 641,754, dated January23, 1900.

Application filed May 13,1899.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WALTER R. ADDICKS, a citizen of the United States,residing in Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented an Improvement in Lubricating Attachments for Gate-Valves,of which the following description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, is a specification, like letters and figures on the drawingsrepresenting like parts.

My invention relates to that class of valves which are used in water andgas mains and other underground situations. In order to keep theoperating mechanism of such valves properly lubricated, it has beennecessary heretofore to locate the valve in a permanent pit or chamber,usually constructed of brick and iron and of considerably greaterdimensions than the valve itself and intended to be substantiallydirt-proof, and to provide means whereby the attendant can enter saidpit or chamber to apply the lubricant. Aside from the considerableground-space occupied by such pit or chamber and the cost of itsconstruction and maintenance this method of locating such valves is opento the further objection that in spite of the precautions takenparticles of dust and grit and bodies of water find their way into thepit or chamber and settle upon the exposed working parts of thevalve-operating mechanism, thereby hastening the wear of said parts andincreasing the power required to operate them or rendering theminoperative. I have found that these and other objections to such methodof locating this class of valves can be obviated by providing the valvewith a lubricating attachment in the form of an oil-chamber immediatelysurrounding and inclosing the valve-operating mechanism; and my invention consists in a valve provided with such attachment, as hereinafterfully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters and figures designatelike parts in the several views, Figure 1 is a side elevation of agate-valve provided with a lubricating attachment embodying theinvention, the gate-operating mechanism being shown by broken lines.Fig. 2 is an end View of the attachment looking toward the right inFig. 1. Fig.

Serial No. 716,670. (No model.)

3 is a partial side view of the valve-body, illus trating one manner ofsecuring the attachment to existing valves. Fig. 4 is an end viewthereof, and Fig. 5 a detail to be referred to.

The letterA designates the valve-body,hav= ing the water or gas way A;B, the gate or valve thereof for closing said way; 0, the gate=operatingspindle; D, the bracket bolted to the end of said body and supportingthe outer end of said spindle; E, the bevel-gear on the spindle; F, thevertical shaft supported by said bracket and carrying at its lower endthe bevel-gear F, which meshes with said gear E, and at its upper endthe angular head F to receive a wrench, and G the stuffing-boxsurrounding the spindle of a common form of gate-valve, said spindle,its gear and stuffing-box, the bracket, and the parts supported by thesame being shown in Figs 1 and 5. This form of valve disposedhorizontally, as shown in Fig. 1, is used in water and other mains whereit is located several feet beneath the ground, as hereinbefore stated, awrench with a handle long enough to reach above the surface beingemployed to actuate the shaft F to open and close the valve. Thebearings of the spindle and of shaft F in the bracket and theintermeshing teeth of the gears require liberal lubrication to enablethe valve, which is of considerable weight, to be operated easily, andsuch lubrication has heretofore been attended with the difficultieshereinbefore enumerated. In the practice of my invention I surround saidvalve-operating mechanism with a casing open at one end for thereception of the valve-operating gears and forming a chamber capable ofreceiving and holding a lubricant and secure said casing to thevalve-body, the head F of shaft F being allowed to project through thetop of said casing to receive the operating-wrench. In newlyconstructing a valve in accordance with the invention the cap portion ofthe body A will be formed with a flange H, as shown in Fig. 1, havingsubstantially the outline shown in Fig. 2 to receive a correspondingflange J on the chamber J, and bolts 2, passing through said flanges,securely fasten the casing to the body in such manner as to prevent theescape of the lubricant from the former. The casing J can be formed in asingle piece of cast-iron or other metal; but as, in that case, toremove the casing from the valve-body when the latter is in itsoperative position would require that the excavation should exceed thelength of the valve by more than the length of the easing, I prefer tomake it in three sections-to wit, an upper section 3, forming the upperhalf thereof, and two lower sections 4 and 5, forming the lower halfthereofsaid sections being flanged and bolted together, as shown inFigs. 1 and 2. The sectional casing thus formed can be applied to orremoved from a valve in an excavation but slightly longer, if any, thanthe valve itself, thereby reducing the necessary size of the excavationto a minimum. A removable cover J at the top of said casing J, throughwhich passes the upper end of shaft F, prevents the entrance of dirtaround said shaft and enables the casing to be supplied with lubricantand to be replenished whenever required. The casing thus applied beingprovided with lubricant, ease of operation of the valve operatingmechanism is assured at all times, with practically no wear of theparts, the casing preventing the entrance of any dirt, grit, or water tosaid parts.

In applying the lubricating-chamber to existin g valves which do nothave the flange H, but do usually have a smaller flange K, (see Fig. 3,)to which is bolted the bracket D, I utilize the two-part flange L,(shown in Figs. 3 and 4,) which is divided vertically into two equalparts. Said flange is adapted to closely hug the flange K, and its twomembers are provided with laterally-projecting lugs 6 at their ends,through which pass the bolts 7, by which said members are drawn togetherand tightly clamped in position, the lugs 6 having inwardly-projectingextensions 8, which engage the rear side of the flange K and prevent anyforward movement of said flange L. The flange L being thus secured tothe valvebody, the chamber J is applied as before described. The variousjoints of the casin g are rendered water-tight by packing or in anyother usual manner.

By means of this simple and comparatively inexpensive attachment Imaterially enhance the ease and certainty of operation of this class ofvalves under all circumstances, greatly prolong the effective life ofthe valveoperating mechanism, and effect a material saving in the costof installation and maintenance thereof by reducing the necessary areaof the excavation and dispensing with the permanent structure of thereceiving pit or chamber.

From the above description it will be seen that my invention renders itpossible to entirely do away with any pit or chamber for this class ofvalves, as the valves provided with the lubricating attachment hereindescribed can be simply buried in the ground with a pipe or otherinclosed passage extending therefrom to the surface to permit theoperating-wrench to be applied to the end of shaft F.

In order to dispense with the use of a stuffing-box or packing aroundthe shaft F, the said shaft may be normally protected by a cap 10, (seeFigs. 1 and 2,) screw-threaded on its interior to engage anexteriorly-threaded annular flange 12 on the cover J the cap 10 beingprovided with a stem 13, which may be of the same size as the end of theshaft F, so that the same wrench or key may fit both, or

the stem 13 may be made of a different size,

so as to require the use of a different key or wrench from that whichwill fit the shaft F.

I claim 1. The combination with a valve-body, a gate or valve, andmechanism. extended outside said body for operating said gate or valve,of a casing secured to said valve-body and provided with an openingthrough which said valve-operating mechanism extends into said casing,and means within said casing to support the valve-operating mechanismindependent of said casing, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a valve having its operating mechanism locatedat one end of the body thereof, of a casing composed of a plurality ofsections detachably connected one to another to be removed in differentdirections and shaped to form an opening at one end, means to secure theopen end of said sectional casing to said valve, and means within saidsectional casing to support the valveoperating mechanism independent ofsaid casing, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a valve having the body A provided with theflange H and having valve-operating mechanism comprising the spindle O,shaft F, gears E and F, and supporting-bracket D, of the casing J havingthe flange J which is secured to the flange II on said body asdescribed, said casinginclosin g said valve-operating mechanism andhaving at its upper side an opening through which projects the end ofthe shaft F of said mechanism, substantially as de scribed.

4. The combination with a valve and its operatin g mechanism, of easingJ secured to the valve body and inclosing said operating mechanism, saidcasing being composed of the sections 3, 4 and 5 flanged and boltedtogether as described, and having the removable cover J 5. Thecombination with a valve-body, a gate or valve, and mechanism extendedoutside of said body for operating said gate or valve, of acasingjsecured to said valve-body and provided with an opening throughwhich said valve-operating mechanism extendsinto said casing, and havinga second opening at an angle to the first-mentioned opening and throughwhich said valve-operating mechanism is aotuated, and means within saidcasing to support the valve-operating mechanism separate from saidcasing, substantially as described.

-6. The combination with a valve-body, a gate or valve, and mechanismextended outside of said body for operating said gate or valve, of acasing secured to said valve-body and provided with an opening throughwhich said valve-operating mechanism extends into said casing, andhaving a second opening provided with a cover, and a cap cooperatingwith said cover.

7. The combination with a valve-body, a gate or valve, and mechanismextended outside of said body for operating said gate or valve, of acasing secured to said valve-body and provided with an opening throughwhich said valve-operating mechanism extends into said casing, andhaving a second opening through which said valve-operating mechanism isactuated, and a cap to render said valve-operating mechanism normallyinac-

